Brazilian youth soccer team from favela competes in Street Child World Cup
Yahoo Sports • 1 min read • Latest: Jun 4, 2026, 7:03 AM
Last updated Jun 4, 2026
Brazilian João Victor Gonçalves and nine teammates from the Penha favela recently traveled to Mexico to represent Brazil in the Street Child World Cup. They went undefeated in the tournament, which features teams from 30 countries comprising boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Street Child United Brazil project, launched in 2014, aims to provide these youth with hope and opportunities through soccer training and competition. Participants experience a diversion from the challenges of their environment, including violence and crime. As the FIFA World Cup approaches, Gonçalves expressed hope that the Brazilian national team would also achieve success.
- •Gonçalves and teammates represented Brazil in the Street Child World Cup in Mexico.
- •The Brazil team won the tournament while remaining undefeated.
- •The initiative started in 2014 and includes 100 participants training in Penha.
- •The project aims to provide alternatives to crime and violence in the favela.
- •Gonçalves hopes the Brazilian national team will succeed in the upcoming World Cup.
- 7:03 AMYahoo Sports — Brazilian players from a Rio de Janeiro favela find hope and opportunities thanks to soccer
"When Brazilian João Victor Gonçalves began playing soccer in one of Rio de Janeiro ’s poorest and most violent favelas, little did he know the game would one day allow him to travel abroad and play in an international competition. Last month, along with nine other young boys, he flew to Mexico to represent Brazil in the Street Child World Cup, a tournament with teams from 30 countries composed of boys from impoverished backgrounds, organized ahead of this year’s FIFA World Cup. “I never could have imagined that one day this would happen, that I would represent my country, doing what I most love — playing soccer — in another country,” said Gonçalves, who is 18.
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